‘Horror Homes’: Child Sexual Abuse in Indonesian Schools | Children’s Rights News

Medan, Indonesia – An incident involving child abuse in Medan, North Sumatra, has highlighted the need for Indonesian schools and local authorities to better protect their students, especially when the perpetrators are religious leaders, experts said.

Six female students went to a school in Medan last month to denounce the sexual assault of the organization, also a Protestant priest.

Mira *, the mother of an alleged victim, told Al Jazeera that her 13-year-old daughter had been taken to a local motel at least four times since the age of 11, where she was sexually assaulted.

“My daughter said the principal told other staff that she was taking karate practices outside of school,” Mira said. “When they arrived at the hotel, he removed her clothes, covered her eyes and forced her to give oral sex. When he tried to resist, he threw his head down to force him to continue. “

Mira filed a police report earlier this month against the alleged perpetrator.

Five other female students said they were locked in the principal’s office in “special classes” including English lessons and ballet, but were forced to sit on the man’s lap while he was sexually assaulted.

It is not clear how many cases of child sexual abuse occur in schools in Indonesia each year, although the National Commission on Violence against Women registered more than 38,000 cases of violence against women and children in 2020, the highest ever.

In recent years, the Southeast Asian nation has been shaken by several high-profile cases of child sexual abuse.

In 2020, the head of the Islamic boarding school in Aceh province was sentenced to 15 years in prison that year for arresting 15 male students and a Catholic priest “Brother Angelo” for sexually assaulting minors in a children’s home. They are being tried in Jakarta in 2021.

But many cases like this are deliberately kept in front of people.

“When sexual violence caused by religious leaders occurs, it is a very difficult process because people believe that the perpetrator is unlikely to commit violence because these leaders are considered holy characters, authorities and nurturers. Many victims judge local communities and accuse the perpetrators.” said Ermelina Singereta, a lawyer in the Dike Nomia law firm in Jakarta, representing the victims in the “Brother Angelo” case.

Medan, Mira says that the school initially tried to resolve the case from the inside, the principal signed a written agreement in which he apologized in front of two victims and promised not to be punished again, Singereta noted as something very common.

“Many cases are resolved through religious organizations because of a lack of education or information in the community,” he said. “Sometimes religious organizations solve the problem of violence against women or children with internal mechanisms, even if they are responsible for passing state legal mechanisms.”

Indonesian child protection laws were enacted in 2002 and updated in 2014.

Penalties for those convicted of sexual abuse of a minor can range from five to 15 years in prison, although in 2016 the Indonesian Parliament proposed a new amendment to the gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old teenager in Bengkulu. On the west coast of Sumatra.

The changes proposed in the 2016 bill allow for this chemical castration of punished pedophiles by injection. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, signed the use of chemical castration in January 2021, although the sentence has not yet been implemented.

Fear and embarrassment

Eustochia Sister Monika Nata, a Catholic nun working in the East Florida Florentine Volunteer Group (TRUK-F) group that works with victims of child sexual abuse, told Al Jazeera in the town of Maumere alone, with a population of about 90,000, about 30 children and sexual minors he sees new cases of assault every year.

“These are the cases that are given to us in TRUK-F, and so of course there are many others that are not reported,” he added.

“Some victims become pregnant as a result of abuse and do not want to report the incident because they feel ashamed or that the investigating authorities will not help them.”

Ranto Sibarani, a human rights lawyer based in Medan who represents six alleged victims at the Protestant school, told Al Jazeera that the judicial process can be long and arduous for victims of sexual assault and that more needs to be done to support victims and encourage action.

“In Indonesia, women and children are often in the most vulnerable position to speak out for their rights, so it is important to empower them to do so,” she said. “In many parts of the country, they are considered second-class citizens because of their patriarchal dominance in Indonesian society.”

Attorney Ranto Sibarani called for more stringent protections to protect children [Aisyah Llewellyn/Al Jazeera]

He also called for stricter safeguards and called on the government and the Ministry of Education to take measures to tighten the control of education and religious workers.

“I would ask the government again how teachers and religious leaders are hired and how they can get the work they teach in schools without sufficient background check and psychological assessment to help keep students safe,” the lawyer said. “Cases of child sexual abuse are worse than terrorism. We don’t know how many victims have actually been affected.”

On April 16, angry parents protested outside the Medan school demanding a full investigation and asking staff to cooperate with local authorities. They also had posters demanding the removal of the principal who has not yet been arrested.

Mira said she is proud to speak to her daughter and that her family has felt compelled to report abuse to the authorities for fear that other victims would be harmed in the future.

“The number of casualties that have advanced is the tip of the iceberg, for sure [the principal] he must stop otherwise he will do it again, “he said.” She was his teacher but for two years he treated my daughter like an animal. “

“We hope the school will be the safest place for parents to educate their children,” Sibarani added. “But this case shows how schools that want to promote strong religious values ​​can become houses of horror.”

* Mira is a nickname to protect her daughter’s identity.